Wash. Officer Recovering after Crash with Suspected DUI Driver

A Sumas police officer who was hit by a suspected DUI driver while on duty has been released from St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham, and it is expected that he will return to a work in the next few days.

"He is stiff and sore from the crash but thankfully has no other obvious injuries at this time," Sumas Police Department Chief Daniel DeBruin said in an email to The Bellingham Herald Tuesday morning, March 1. "We are thankful that he and the driver of the other vehicle involved were not more seriously injured."

DeBruin told The Herald that the officer was released from the hospital on Monday morning and it is hoped that he can return to work soon.

The officer was struck at approximately 9:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 27, in the 9300 block of Cherry Street (Highway 9) while making a traffic stop with a commercial vehicle, according to a tweet by Washington State Trooper Jacob Kennett's account early Monday.

The officer's vehicle was struck from behind by an SUV during the stop, according to the tweet.

"An investigation determined the driver of the SUV to be impaired and they were placed under arrest for DUI," the tweet read, adding that both the officer and the driver of the SUV suffered minor injuries and were taken to the hospital.

The State Patrol will be handling the investigation into the crash, DeBruin told The Herald.

As of Tuesday morning, the Whatcom County Jail log did not show any bookings for DUI by the State Patrol, but the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office, which also assisted in responding to the crash, had booked two people on suspicion of DUI since the crash.

Kennett told The Herald Tuesday that he was working to get more information about the crash.

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